Helen Dardik Week : Summer Gardens

Hello everybody ! I need to do this post really quickly as I still need to dry my hair before going to bed - we're getting up really early tomorrow to catch a train to Vienna for the day ! Today we took a cable car up to Untersberg, a 1,973m high moutain right on the border between Austria and Germany ! There were some really amazing views, looking way out over the Alps and also back down on to the city of Salzburg.

I've got probably my least favourite of the designs I've done for my Helen Dardik Week to show you today, it's still an OK design, I just prefer all of the others I've done ! Today's design is inspired by the "Summer Gardens" pattern from August this year.

Looking back at the original inspiration-image, I sort of regret not having done one of the other flowers that feature in it. There are loads of different flowers on there that I could have chosen, but then I suppose my flowers do look okay in comparison to the original look of them on the pattern !

So I started with a base of OPI My Vampire is Buff for this design, then I moved on to painting the flowers using OPI Big Apple Red, OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, American Apparel Office and Butter London Royal Navy. For the leaves I used (I'm pretty sure) OPI Mermaids Tears and OPI Jade is the New Black. There's also, if you look very closely, some little white teardrops that I painted on as they're in the pattern, but you can't really see them very well at all ! I think it's the navy blue stamens on this one that ruin the look - they look really dainty on the original pattern but on my nails I just think they look a bit "meh" !

So that's it for today ! I'm going to go and dry my hair and then go to sleep ! I'm so worn out from all that walking I've been doing today ! But don't worry, I'll be back again tomorrow, and there are only two designs left which are both my favourites of all the designs I've done this week, so don't miss out ! Byeeeee !

NOTD : Helen Dardik Red Flowers

Hey there everyone ! I really ought to get to bed soon as I'm going to go the market in one of my local towns tomorrow morning so I have to get up early (8:30am, ugh, so early, poor little me). It's going to be really exciting as I'm going to be buying some fabric (yay !) for something I'm currently in the process of making so that means MAJOR nail inspiration ! Happy days ! I've got a design inspired by the illustrator Helen Dardik today, and I'm really happy with how it looks !

So I was looking through Pinterest for some floral inspiration earlier this afternoon when I came across this pin and I knew I had to do it ! I thought of maybe doing a mix of the different flowers on there, but then decided just to stick to one and I'm really glad I did !

I started with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, then for the actual flowers I used P2 Hug Me, OPI You Don't Know Jacques, Essie Meet Me at Sunset, OPI Big Apple Red and OPI Don't Talk Bach to Me for the leaves. I wish I'd have painted the flower on my little finger more into a corner or something, I just don't think it looks right at the tip of my nail ! What do you think ?

Right, I'm going to go up to bed now, so I'll perhaps see you again tomorrow, maybe the day after (depending on what I'm doing about posting while I'm away) ! Hopefully it'll be tomorrow though, so I'll see you then everyone ! Byeeeeeee !

Alphabet Nail Art Challenge : R for Rasta

Hey there everyone ! I'm trying out a new way of watermarking and presenting my photos today, ready to go with my new layout which'll be up pretty soon too ! Let me know what you all think of it ! Anyway, I wasn't particularly excited about today's theme - "R for Rasta", but here's what I came up with !

I've never really been in to the whole rasta/jamaican sort of trend, a lot of people who were at school with me were though ! I'm really happy with the way it looks though, especially as I used a design I've been wanting to try for ages : half moon + tips in different colours ! I added the marijuana leaf as it just happens to be what the red, green and yellow together makes me think of, although the one on my ring finger looks a bit more like a palm tree than a leaf !

I started with the yellow for the base using Maybelline Electric Yellow as it's the lightest colour, I then painted the green half moons with Collection 2000 Ninja and the tips with OPI Big Apple Red. I used black acrylic paint and a standard google image to paint the marijuana leaf silhouette ! So what do think of the one on my ring minger ? Palm tree or leaf ?

I don't think I'm completely won over with the whole rasta thing, but I do like the way it's turned out ! I think someone who's in to it would appreciate these nails far more than I do, so I think I'll just stick to the florals !

It's really late now, I've spent so long procrastinating since I first started writing this post about an hour ago, so I need to go to bed now ! See you all again tomorrow !

Alphabet Nail Art Challenge : Q for Quilt

Hey there everybody ! So I have to admit, I was feeling completely unenthusiastic about today's theme both last night and this morning, even when I'd decided what I wanted to do on my nails and sat down to do them I ended up procrastinating for another hour or so and totally delayed having to do them ! I got them done in the end though so that's all that matters, and I'm actually rather pleased with them !

I looked up "quilts" on wikipedia which came up with all sorts of different types, even "crazy quilts" which I considered, but decided that was too complicated ! In the end I searched for quilts on Pinterest and found this one which inspired me ! I didn't use the colours that were in the pinterest quilt image, and instead I chose to pick some random colours from my collection !

I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls for the base colour, and the coloured triangles were done using OPI Funky Dunkey, OPI Planks A Lot, OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, OPI My Very First Knockwurst, OPI Can't Find my Czechbook, OPI Big Apple Red, OPI My Back Pocket, China Glaze Man Hunt and Essie Meet Me at Sunset. Wow.. that's a lot of nail varnish !

This design took ages for me to do, far longer than I had expected ! As you can see I started with a lot of detail and small triangles on the thumb but then as soon as I'd finished that nail, I knew the others had to have a larger pattern on them ! Just imagine the time it would have taken me otherwise !!!

I'm going to watch some more TV now before I go to bed, so I'll see you tomorrow !

Alphabet Nail Art Challenge : N for Nautical

It's time for another theme in the Alphabet Nail Art Challenge everyone, and today is (as per the title) "N for Nautical" ! I think that nautical designs such as anchors and navy stripes are pretty popular in the nail art world, as well as just in general with stuff such as jewellery and tattos often being inspired by nautical symbols, so I had a lot of idea for what to do on my nails today ! Here's what I came up with :

I didn't have a very good time trying to take photos of this design with my camera so I've had to resort to using my iPhone for taking today's pictures ! Who'd have thought a mobile phone would get better photos than a normal camera ? ..something's not right there ! Have any of you ever had this problem with certain nail designs ?

I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls which I applied about 3.5 hours before I started doing my nails. I was doing crochet all day so I had the patience to wait for it to dry for a bit ! I dented my thumb though with the white polish so I took that off when I got back and applied China Glaze Man Hunt instead. For the stripes I used CG Man Hunt and OPI The Spy Who Loved Me, I used Barry M Silver Foil for the anchor on my thumb and then placed a stud on each striped nail.

So what do you think of my nautical nails ? I think they're quite minimalist but in a good way, and I really love the anchor on my thumb nail ! The decision to add studs to the striped nails was a last minute one as I just thought it was lacking something ! I suppose I could have done something more complex, but I'm quite happy with what I've done !

I'm off now, so I'll see you all again tomorrow !

Alphabet Nail Art Challenge : J for Japanese

Hello again everyone ! I'm back from my trip away with family in Brittany, worked all day yesterday and I finally got a chance to do my nails again today (I was dying to do them as I hadn't since the last challenge I posted, they'd started peeling) ! Today's theme is Japanese and this is what I came up with :

I started thinking about what I would do for today's theme last week. The "Japanese" theme seemed a bit ambiguous to me, so I did a lot of research and after trolling through pictures of all sorts of writing/kimonos/cherry blossom, and even considering mega-jewelled japanese nail art trends, I eventually settled with the Rising Sun flag !

For this design I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and then using OPI Big Apple Red I made a small dot in the centre of each nail as a reference to draw a bigger circle. From that circle I then painted the lines coming out of it, simple really !

As much as I like the way this nail art design looks, I'm dreading having to remove it tomorrow because of the red nail varnish ! I usually avoid it like the plague for that very reason, I'll just have to put up with it ! I think it would look good with different colours as well - another thing to add to my long list of things to try out !

I'm off to bed now, so I'll see you all again tomorrow with... kittens !

NOTD : Spots and Stripes

Helloooooo everyone ! So I've got a really quick post today to wish a Happy 4th of July to all the Americans out there ! I've had to improvise with the few nail varnishes I've bought whilst I've been here in Berlin, and I've managed to (sort of) paint the US flag ! I've gone for a bit of a distressed look, but even then the colours aren't as distressed as I'd have liked them to have been !

I used Essence What's my Name ? and P2 Up in the Air for the base colours, and then I painted the stripes and the spots using my Models Own white nail art pen (I never go anywhere without my nail art pens !). Also, apologies for the not-so-great lighting, I had to improvise seeing as I don't have a lightbox here, but I still think it looks okay, what do you reckon ?

That's all for today you guys, I've got a proper normal post coming up this weekend, so stay tuned for that !

NOTD : Stripes and Roses

Good evening everyone, I'm just about to go to bed but I suppose I'll manage to squeeze in a quick post for you all ! I'm really excited about this design as I've decided to try to reshape my nails as I was getting bored of the plain squoval nails, and decided to go for something for interesting ! They aren't the exact shape I'd like them to be at the moment, but I'm getting there slowly !

I did these nails on Saturday while I was supposed to be revising... surprise surprise ! I really love the way the colours work together, and I REALLY love the design on my index and middle fingers, probably something I will do again but on all of my nails !

For this design the nail varnishes I used were OPI Skyfall for the plain coloured nails and the roses, then I used OPI My Vampire is Buff, OPI My Very First Knockwurst, OPI Live and Let Die and my Models Own nail art pen in black for my accent nails. I just love this design, and I'm rediscovering my love for OPI Skyfall, it's such a pretty colour !

So anyway I'm off to bed now, let me know what you think of my new nail shape, I'll be working on perfecting it over the next few weeks I imagine but I'm already in love ! See you all again soon !

NOTD : Transparent Lines

Good evening everybody ! I've finally found some time to blog, as I only got back on Monday from my weekend away, and I didn't finish my nails until late last night after I'd finished doing all my work for uni (exams are coming up soon, eep) ! So today I just have a quick design to show you all, I just wanted something plain and simple (and quick) to do last night, and I ended up coming up with this ! (These photos are taking forever to upload for some reason so you'll only be getting 2 today, sorry !)

I didn't actually have any particular inspiration for this design or colour combination, I just picked out some random nail polishes which ended up going in a sort of purple and orange direction ! It's maybe a bit of an autumn-ish colour scheme but I'm happy with it !

So the colours I used were OPI Germanicure by OPI, P2 Electric, Essence Redvolution, OPI My Back Pocket, OPI Vant to Bite My Neck, Essie Splash of Grenadine, American Apparel T-Shirt and Barry M Gold Foil. Wow, that's a lot of different polishes !

Right well I'd best get off to bed, those photos took soooo much longer than I anticipated and I need an early night ! I hope you all liked today's design !

Yves Saint Laurent Floral Nails

Hey there everyone ! Really quick post tonight as it's really late already and I need to get some sleep before the morning ! Just to let you know that I won't be able to post anything from now until Monday evening as I'm going to visit some friends (recent change of plans) and I haven't got any scheduled posts for you all ! So I thought I'd just leave you with a little something to last until I'm able to do my nails and post again on Monday !

So I did this design about a couple of months ago, and it was inspired by a nail art design I found at Moveslightly.com which was inspired by fashion from the Yves Saint Laurent 2012 Resort collection. I really liked the way that the design looked, but I don't really think I've done it justice, I much prefer the original !

For this design the colours I used were OPI Skull and Glossbones, then for the flowers I used OPI Big Apple Red and Barry M Lemon Ice Cream, as well as my Models Own black nail art pen.

And that'll be it for tonight ! I'm going to go and get ready for bed as I'm SUPER tired now, been working all evening, poor little me ! Night night guys !

Swatch : OPI - You Only Live Twice

Hey there everyone ! So I've decided I may as well post something for you all tonight, seeing as I'm on a roll swatching loads of nail varnishes (in preparation for some scheduled posts for when my Mum and sister come to visit at the end of next week) ! I've got a particularly pretty swatch for today's post, and as a matter of fact I'm currently wearing it because it's such a great colour !

So this is OPI You Only Live Twice from the OPI Skyfall collection for Winter 2012, and it's basically a seeeeeeriously beautiful raspberry pink red glassfleck shimmer polish. The shimmer in this polish is great, making it practically GLOW magenta even in the shade ! I'm in love, and I can't believe I haven't worn it until now, even though my Mum wore it on her nails while I was still in France at Christmas !

I used two coats for this swatch, the formula was great (as with pretty much EVERY nail varnish by OPI) and it made everything come together on the second coat ! I also used Seche Vite on top of the swatch, just to make the shimmer in it really pop !

I seriously can't stop staring at my nails, I think this seems to be a common side effect with most of the nail polishes from the OPI Skyfall collection, it certainly was with Tomorrow Never Dies (need to find some more uses for that colour other than just swatches), not that I'm complaining or anything, I can't wait to have more polishes with the same effect !

So that'll be all for today everyone, stay tuned for most probably another post tomorrow evening ! See you all then !

NOTD : Rainbow Half Hearts

Evening all ! So, as I was moaning about it in yesterday's post, I managed to do my nails this afternoon today and I'm following through with it by posting relatively early as well in comparison to a lot of my posts as of late ! Anyway, on to the nails !

So this nail art design is the idea that suddenly came to me last night while I was writing up the Valentine's Day post, and yeah I have to say I kinda like it, but I'm not as in love with it as I have been with a lot of my previous designs ! I think it looked better in my head, and I would really like a better green nail varnish for my collection seeing as I'm lacking ! I feel the ring finger with the green and blue could have stood out more if I had a better green ! Oh well !

For this design, the nail varnishes I used were (in rainbow order, of course) OPI Big Apple Red, OPI My Back Pocket, P2 Hug Me, Kiko Acid Green, OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and OPI Funkey Dunkey. I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for some good green creme nail polishes, any suggestions from you guys as to what I should get ?

These nails seem to look more rainbow-y from a distance than they do close up, the thumbnails are looking far more impressive right now than what they look like on the nails ! You notice the gradient effect I was going for when you look at the photos from afar ! I really love the overall design though, as you may have seen before in my Half Hearts post that was inspired by Whitney at Dressed Up Nails !

Right, I'm going to watch a film before going to bed, might even put my pyjamas on now and watch it in bed because I'm sick of sitting on this office chair ! Have a lovely evening everybody !

NOTD : Valentine's Day

Hey everybody ! Once again, another late post from me ! I really need to start posting earlier and doing my nails earlier than 7pm because it gets to the point when I'm too tired to do my nails properly ! The fact that I've been reeeeeeally uninspired lately doesn't help either, I don't know what it is, I just can't seem to find anything I really want/can be bothered to do on my nails ! I'm going to try a new routine where I do my nails earlier in the afternoon and perhaps that'll help, we'll see ! Anyway, on to the V-Day nails !

I could have done something soooo much more original than this had I had some form of inspiration, but hey, here's some generic Valentine's Day nail art for you ! I'm quite pleased with the hearts on both my index and middle finger, but am rather disappointed with the other three nails... oh well, that's what you get when you only start your nails at 8 o'clock !

For this nail design, the nail varnishes I used were OPI My Very First Knockwurst, OPI Big Apple Red, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and my Models Own Wah Nails nail art pen in black. I've been rather over-doing it on the hearts recently, haven't I ? It seems to be my go-to design at the moment for some reason, I'll just go with it though, I might get some inspiration from it !

So that'll it for tonight everyone ! I promise, next year I'll try and do something more original on my nails, perhaps I'll finally be out of this uninspirational phase and get some more interesting designs out ! I have an idea for tomorrow's post, and I've even written it down so I don't forget what it is, I'm just going to hope it turns out as I plan !

See you all tomorrow everybody ! I'm off to bed !

NOTD : Ikea Floral

Hey there everyone ! I finally had a decent amount of time today to do my nails (Mondays and Tuesdays are pretty busy for me with my new timetable for this semester), and seeing as I got nail mail the other day with several polishes I have been lusting after for a looooong time, I've at last been able to do a design that I've had waiting for a while !

Before I came back to the UK in January, I went on a trip to Ikea with my Mum to buy a Helmer for my growing nail varnish collection, and, of course, we had to stop by the fabric section (my mother LOVES fabric and sewing and all sorts of crafty bits and pieces, so we always spend a long time there). When I was looking through all the bigs sheets of fabric, I came across this rather nice looking floral one, but, naturally, I didn't want to do ot on my nails until I had my off-white polish !

For this design, the nail varnishes I used were OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls for the base colour, and then for all the different flowers I used OPI Big Apple Red, OPI Skyfall, OPI Live and Let Die, OPI OPI Eurso Euro, OPI Can't Find my Czechbook, OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh ? and H&M Hunt Me Down. To paint the flowers, I just used a large thick paint brush and just dabbled flowers on randomly, it was really quite easy to do ! A lot less precise than most of the florals I usually do, which was a relief !

I really really like this manicure (although I have taken it off now, as I felt like doing my nails again with yet another new nail varnish), and I think it's really Spring-y, just need the weather here to go with it, we had SNOW earlier on yet again, although I think it's supposed to be warming up tomorrow, hallelujah !

Anyway, I'm going to watch a bit of TV now before I go to bed.. early start in the morning, plus the fact that I went on a huge walk earlier this afternoon and I'm completely knackered from that ! Goodnight everyone, and I'll be back with another post tomorrow !

NOTD : Mini Hearts

Hey there everyone ! So I've been busy catching up on bits and pieces I have had to get done recently and I've been really busy today (giving a tour of the university to prospective students), so I ended up having an early night last night and didn't get a chance to post the nails I did ! Nonetheless, I'm here tonight to post them for you, and I hope they don't disappoint !

So obviously it's the time of year for doing all the lovey-dovey manicures and nail art for Valentines Day, I wasn't really planning on doing anything in particular nail-wise but last night my mother suggested I do this sort of design, and so I did ! I have to admit though, it was a struggle getting them done : I didn't get very much sleep Monday night and so I was super tired yesterday and kept doing stupid things like accidentally knocking my nail on the table and smudging my base colour... ugh, I was getting so irritated, so I just stuck with two accent nails ! I bet it would have looked really great if I'd have done all the nails, maybe some other time !

For this design I used OPI My Very First Knockwurst for the base colour, and then for the hearts on the accent nail I used OPI Big Apple Red. I really love how this design looks, and I reckon it'd look great with other combinations, maybe some brighter, more original combinations to veer off from the "traditional colours" for Valentines Day (plus you can wear it any day of the year then, happy days) !

And that'll be it from me today ! I got a new OPI nail varnish today, the ones from the Euro Centrale collection should be arriving soon as well, so perhaps I'll have to include my new arrival in some nail art for tomorrow's post ! Let's just say it's a colour I've wanted for quite a while now, and I think it's going to prove to be particularly useful for nail art !

I'll see you all tomorrow hopefully everyone ! Have a great day !

NOTD : Stars and Shiny Stripes

Hola everyone ! So I had my first exam today which went pretty well so I'm really happy, and so I decided to reward my good work with some baking and some nail art ! I made some reaaaaaally tasty macadamia nut caramel squares which are seriously tasty, and after that I just decided to chill and do my nails whilst watching ANTM (oh lord I have spent far too long watching it during this past week..) ! So without further ado, the nails !

This is an idea I've had in my head for quite a while, but I have never got around to executing it ! I'm really glad I did finally get to do this nail design though because I think it looks great ! I think I'm getting slightly over-the-top with the amount of nail art designs with these two accent nails recently, it seems to me that I've been doing rather a lot of them ! Never mind !

So the nail polishes I used for today's design are American Apparel T-Shirt, China Glaze Man Hunt and OPI Die Another Day, plus my Models Own Wah Nails nail art pen in white for the stars on my accent nails. I thought that Die Another Day would be a bit too orangey for the stripes for the USA flag, but as it turns out it really works quite well and the orange-ness isn't that noticeable ! I think a deeper red polish would have been too much maybe !

And that's that for today everyone ! I hope you all enjoyed today's design, now I'm off to watch a bit more ANTM before a friend comes over to watch Team America ! Happy times ! Hopefully it won't be too too long before my next post, my next and last exam is on Thursday (unless of course it gets cancelled because of this damn snow, ugh I hate snow so much right now), so hopefully I can post something after that as I'll be revising all day tomorrow !

Hope you all have a great evening !

Swatch : OPI - The Living Daylights

Good evening everyone ! I had time to do my nails again today ! Happy times ! I've been feeling quite uninspired recently for some reason, plus the fact that I don't have all my nail varnishes with me seeing as I'm "on holiday" back at home because I won't be able to carry my whole stash back with me ! Hopefully I'll be inspired again once I get back to all my babies (my nail varnishes that is... I'm not ashamed) !

So today's swatch (and my current NOTD) is OPI The Living Daylights over OPI Skyfall, both from the most recent OPI collection in honour of 50 years of James Bond. I really really love all the nail varnishes in this collection, and I think that this glitter topper is really original ! This swatch shows about 1.5 coats of The Living Daylights, as I did quite a bit of blobbing to get the glitter where I wanted, but the formula and coverage was really good anyway !

I wasn't sure initially when I first looked at the different polishes in this collection, as to whether I'd like this glitter or not, but it's really grown on me since I've been wearing it ! From a distance it looks sort of like scales, which is really cool, and the colour combination is really cool, I love it over Skyfall (but that's a whole other story about another amazing colour) !

And that's it for today ! I will assume that you have all fully understood by now that I'm absolutely in love with this collection ! I can't wait to do even more nail art (once I have a wider choice of colours to use) and different combinations with the Skyfall collection ! Expect another Germany collection repeat, I LOVE IT !

I'll see you all again soon everyone, have a great evening !