Time to turn holographic

I’ve wanted holographic nail varnish for a while. I’ve tried a few but they’ve never been quite right. At work I was told about one from Urban Outfitters. So, I trundled down to Oxford Street and parted £12 for the varnish.

When I applied it I was slightly disappointed – it looked just like any other silver shade... UNTIL I saw it under the light. When artificial or natural light shines on this varnish, it creates rainbows at your fingertips.

Would I recommend it? Yes, but save it for when the sun is shining more. It’s perfect for festivals – I wore it for seven days without any chips (aside from a minor bowling incident). 

Easter nail art: Bunnies, chicks and speckled eggs

Happy Easter!

It’s been two months since my last blog post (tut tut!) – I’ve probably painted my nails at least 20 times since then but haven’t kept up to date with photographs. I don’t think you’ve missed anything spectacular, but some of the highlights include going girly pink for Cosmopolitan March and matching my nails to April Vogue (both accidents). 

The pink nail polish on the left is Chanel Fracas. I have never had so many positive remarks on my nails than when I was wearing this shade. From women on the Tube to middle-aged men in lifts, everyone took notice of this bright colour. It’s part of Chanel’s Spring 2013 collection and I have a sneaky suspicion it’s limited edition, so get it quick.

As you may have noticed from previous posts, I love a theme. Easter has provided the perfect opportunity to bring some spring fun to my nails.

The speckled nails are a mixture of Butter, Avon and L'Oréal  pastel shades. The black and white dots were created by L'Oréal’s very clever Confetti top coat. It’s an absolute nightmare to remove but it’s a great way to create patterned nails in seconds.

It wouldn’t be Easter without chicks and rabbits. I drew these on with WAH Nails for Model’s Own nail art pens.

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend and all of that chocolate. 

Biffy Clyro: Opposites

Okay, this post may not be for everyone, but give it a chance! Biffy Clyro have just released their double album, Opposites. I am a huge Biffy fan. The album is brilliant, so if you haven't bought it already I recommend giving it a listen. 

Moving on to nails, it seemed right to make them Biffy themed. Even if you don't like the band (how can you not?!), you might be able to pull some ideas from these anyway: 

A few are a bit on the abstract side, so in case you want some explanations:

Left hand: 
Little: Folding Stars. Ring: Puzzle. Middle: Black Chandelier (I forgot to join the dots, oops!). Index: Taking 'Spanish Radio' literally. Thumb: The Opposites album cover. 


Right hand:
Thumb: #MonTheBiff. Index: The Thaw. Middle: 57. Ring: Biblical. Little: Only Revolutions. 


I suppose that's enough praise for Biffy for one day. Next up, I'll be reviewing the Chanel Spring 2013 collection. 

Tarantino: A Pulp Fiction love affair

With the recent release of Django Unchained (the ‘d’ is silent), I thought I’d honour director Quentin Tarantino with nail art. 

Pulp Fiction is one of my favourite films EVER, so my left hand is all Pulp related. My right hand is a mixture of Tarantino films. I’ll explain what they all are, but I’ll give you the picture first to see if you can guess:

Left hand: 

Little: Chanel no.18 ‘Rouge Noir’. This is supposedly the colour Uma Thurman wore in the film to play Mia Wallace and is the first Chanel nail polish I owned. ‘Vamp’ was given the same number, but there are differences in the colour.

Ring and thumb: A $5 milkshake. One of my favourite scenes of the film is in Jack Rabbit Slims. From the Twist Contest to waitresses dressed as Hollywood icons, it’s brilliant. If you haven’t seen the film, Vince Vega (John Travolta) makes a huge fuss over Mia ordering a $5 milkshake. But, once he tastes the shake, declares it ‘a pretty f*ckin’ good milkshake’. 

Middle: ‘Pulp’ in the colours of all the film advertising.

Index: Tomatoes. Mia Wallace’s joke in the film: ‘Three tomatoes are walking down the street – papa tomato, mama tomato, and baby tomato. Baby tomato starts lagging behind and papa tomato gets really angry, goes back and squishes him, and says, "catch up"... ketchup.'

Right hand:

Little: Django Unchained logo.

Ring: Blood splatter. Could be from any Tarantino film, but I was aiming for Reservoir Dogs. 

Middle: The emblem on the car in Death Proof – my skulls need a lot of work.

Index: Kill Bill.

Thumb: Jackie Brown – her flight attendant uniform.

Inglorious Basterds is another Tarantino film I love, but with the only prominent theme of the film being Nazis, I didn’t want a swastika on my hand. 

Somewhere over the rainbow

The weather has been so cold and bleak recently. The sun has well and truly abandoned us and those Siberian winds sure aren’t fun, brrrrr! 

To brighten up the dreary days, I’ve been walking around with rainbows on my fingers. My nails are currently a mix of colour, polka dots and diamantes:

All colours you see are mini Ciaté nail polishes. One of my favourite things about December was my Ciaté ‘Mini Mani Month’ Advent calendar. Every day in December, I got to open a door to a new nail polish. Far more exciting than a Santa-shaped chocolate every day. I hope they do them again next year! 

While we’re talking of rainbows, here’s my favourite rendition of ‘Over The Rainbow’, by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Nothing makes me want to go to Hawaii more than this.

You're a wizard, Harry!

I’m a Harry Potter GEEK and proud. Nothing makes me happier than dressing up like Bellatrix Lestrange and running around screaming "I killed Sirius Black" in a high-pitched voice. God bless Helena Bonham-Carter! 

This weekend I finally found myself at Warner Bros. for the The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour. I’m trying to write this without sounding like the biggest fangirl ever, but… OH-MY-GOOD-GOLLY-AUNT-PETUNIA-AND-UNCLE-VERNON, it was magical. 

Anyway, back to business! When it comes to nails, I love a theme. Visiting the HP studios was the perfect occasion for some wizardy nail art. 

The nails are far from perfect, in fact some of them are pretty terrible. The main thing is, I got into the spirit of things and the Warner Bros. staff loved them. 

In case you can't make them out, allow me to explain:

Left hand (from thumb to little finger): Harry Potter, Ravenclaw colours, Quidditch hoops, Slytherin colours, the Deathly Hallows symbol.
Right hand (from little finger to thumb): Hedwig, Gryffindor colours, gold snitches, Hufflepuff colours, Voldemort / Prof. Quirrell .

Another thing I love is merchandise. Unfortunately, I’m a slave to consumerism most of the time. The Harry Potter gift shop was my paradise. I could probably spend more money in there than in Selfridges, and that’s saying something. 

The first thing that caught my eye was Hedwig. I was tempted to buy the stuffed owl, but at £24.95 I decided to use him as a picture opportunity for my nails instead… 

When I started at Hogwarts, I was sorted into Slytherin. Okay, I should shush now. While I was at university, my talented friend Vicky knitted me this Slytherin Scarf. After letting go of Hedwig, I bought a Slytherin embroidered patch for my scarf instead. I can’t wait to sew it on.

After resisting Hermione’s time-turner necklace (and believe me, I wanted it a lot), I settled for a Slytherin wax seal stamp set. My letters just got a darn sight cooler.

See you around, Muggles. x

PS: Butterbeer is delicious! 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, nail addicts! I spent New Year’s Eve partying with my best friend and wanted to make sure my nails were in good shape for the momentous occasion.

Where did I get my inspiration? If you’ve read the ‘About Me’ section, you’ll already know that I love Michelle Humphrey. She was behind Lily Cooper’s (née Allen) NYE nails. She tweeted this snap below:

I opted for something similar, but added some diagonal black tips and some Ciaté Caviar pearls:

Background colour: Ciaté in 'Ladylike Luxe'. Black tips: Ciaté in 'Twilight'. Pattern: Chanel 'Kaleidoscope' (479) and WAH / Model's Own nail art pen in black. Ring Finger: Ciaté Caviar Pearls in 'Bumble Bee'. Top Coat: Essie 'Good to go' rapid dry top coat. 

Have you tried Caviar pearls yet? What do you think? I really like them, but find they don’t stick to the tips very well. It involves a lot of filling in. I know some people dislike the texture of them, but I think they’re fabulous. It’s also highly addictive picking them off. I feel sorry for the guy sat next to me on my commute – he ended up with plenty of pearls on his Kindle this evening, as I merrily chipped away at my nails. Oops…

In other Ciaté news, their next nail kit is all about colourful nail foil. There have been pearls, velvet, sequins and now ‘Colourfoil Manicure’. I know it will be out in the US soon, but does anyone know when it’ll hit the UK? I want it now! It looks AMAZING!