Flash Nails Bubble Bath :)

Flash Nails Bubble Bath

Happy Easter! I decided on a periwinkle blue base with glitter dots for my Easter mani. This is Flash Nails Bubble Bath over a base of Essie Bikini So Teeny. I love this glitter topper, it was so easy to apply for big circle glitter and the sprinkle of white microglitter is so pretty!

The circle glitters in Bubble Bath are a bit different to most of the circle glitters I've come across so far. They're sort of pearlescent, so they change colour from light to dark as the light hits them at different angles. They also seem quite thin and lie nicely on the nail. In the bottle, all piled up on top of each other with the light shining through them, they remind me of fish scales... rainbow coloured!

Flash Nails Bubble Bath

Flash Nails Bubble Bath

I used two coats of Bubble Bath for this mani; the glitter is generous and well dispersed in the base and there is no need to fish for glitter. I didn't do any manipulation or particular placement of the glitters, they came out in this nice random pattern on their own.

Flash Nails Bubble Bath

As with the other Flash Nails polishes I've tried, the base is nice and thick so I didn't need to use multiple layers of topcoat to get a smooth finish on my nails. I think I have a new addition to my 'special favourite glitters' list! I chose this base colour because I wanted a pale, spring-like effect, but I'm sure this will look fab over a dark colour (I've checked, the glitters are fully opaque and stand out really well on black (the cap of my topcoat bottle, lol).

Flash Nails Bubble Bath

I purchased Flash Nails Bubble Bath from the Flash Nails Etsy Shop. Nicola has a facebook page where you can check out new colours and other news......... in fact there's an Easter discount there at the moment :)

R&R Lacquers Tutti Frutti

R&R Lacquers Tutti Frutti

A really simple but wonderfully effective spring or summer polish! R&R Lacquers Tutti Frutti  is a white crelly base with glitter in yellow dots, light blue squares, bright red hexes and some oversized neon yellow hexes. I love this - it makes me think of some of Cath Kidston's dot designs!

R&R Lacquers Tutti Frutti

Application was very easy, there's tons of glitter in this polish and the consistency of the base is just about perfect so that you pick up the right amount of glitter on the brush every time. I used three very thin coats so I could build up the effect I wanted with glitter at various depths.

Instead of using a thick topcoat such as Gelous to smooth the glitter, I used a coat of Sally Hansen Polar Bare. Polar Bare is a very sheer white jelly polish - I was given this bottle a while ago and at first I thought I'd never find a use for it. However it turned out to be brilliant for turning any glitter mani into a 'jelly sandwich' and for toning down over-blingy glitters!

R&R Lacquers Tutti Frutti

I bought Tutti Frutti from R&R Lacquers Etsy shop; amazingly this was in the 'reject' bin of colours that didn't make it into their new Spring collection. So sadly this is a one off. There are lots of other super looking shades in the Spring Collection though; I'm eagerly awaiting my pick in the mail :)

Postscript:

I added a bit of stamping to this mani - white-on-white using Sally Hansen Instr-Dri Whirlwind White and MoYou Pro plate XL 05. I love how this turned out!

More hipster nailart (MoYou Hipster collection plates 1 and 2)

MoYou Hipster Collection - images from plates 1 and 2

Hmm, so those brown nails from yesterday were just the perfect base for another hipster-themed mani! Here they are before the stamping just as a reminder...

Flash Nails Princess over OPI & Apple Pie

 It was Flash Nails Princess over OPI & Apple Pie, here's a link to the post if you want to see more pictures or read more about the glitter (Flash Nails is one of the newer UK Indie Brands).

Then I stamped over it using a selection of the images on the MoYou Hipster collection plates 1 and 2. I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Whirlwind White and American Apparel in Hassid for the stamping - these are my HG white and black stamping polishes. I have a different selection of images from these plates on my right hand, but I totally fail at taking photos with my left hand, so no pictures of those, sorry!

MoYou Hipster Collection - images from plates 1 and 2

An InLinkz Link-up

Flash Nails Princess

Flash Nails Princess with OPI & Apple Pie

Today I have another polish from UK Indie Flash Nails to show off. This one is Princess - it's a lovely mixture of matte pink hexes and shards (some of the shards are big and stunning), purple rhombuses (more correctly rhombi - if you're not a mathematician you can call them diamonds, lol) and a nice take on balck and white - black dots and white rectangles. Oh, and some shiny gunmetal hexes too. Super mix, in my opinion.

I've paired this with a classic OPI that most people either love or hate - OPI & Apple Pie. I love it of course, but I would since I love all the poopy colours.

Flash Nails Princess with OPI & Apple Pie

Flash Nails Princess is easy to apply, a bit of fishing required for the purple and black glitters but nothing to cause much concern. This is just one coat of Princess; I like how this looked without packing my nails too full of glitter. The base of Flash Nails polishes is quite heavy and thick, which I appreciate as it reduces the amount of topcoat needed to make the mani nice and smooth. I just used one thick coat of Seche Vite to finish this off. When glitters are rough and lumpy I use Gelous as a smoother, but there is something in the formula of Gelous that doesn't play quite nicely with my nails... somehow it makes them contract a bit and the corners curl under, which I hate. I only notice this when my nails are square of course, but it's still nice to have a glitter that doesn't need Gelous!

Flash Nails Princess with OPI & Apple Pie

I bought Flash Nails Princess from Flash Nails Etsy Shop. OPI & Apple Pie is an old favourite from my collection, long discontinued I'm afraid.

I'm planning to add some Hipster-themed stamping to this mani with my new MoYou Hipster plates, so watch this space for how it turns out :)

Hipster Mani - with MoYou new Hipster plates 1 and 2 and R&R Lacquers Steve

MoYou new Hipster plates 1 and 2 and R&R Lacquers Steve

Long title for this post, lol! MoYou released some fab new 'Hipster' plates last week so when mine arrived I dived straight in with a hipster style mani! I went for a beige, blue and red combination, with a bit of check! The plates have some great designs and all those I tried stamped perfectly.

I painted most of my nails with Essie Case Study; the accents are M&S Autograph Bordeaux and RBL Cuprum. I chose the accent colours because they were the nearest I had to the glitters in R&R Lacquers Steve. All the stamping is Barry M Lychee. I added R&R Lacquers Steve (from R&R's current collection 'Assemble') to my check stamped nails. Steve has matte dark red and blue hexes in a clear base along with white squares and small gold and holographic glitter. This is just one coat - application is very easy and the formula is smooth. I also added a single blue glitter to the red accent nail on each hand. For the blue accent nails, I added double dots with Essie Case Study and Barry M Lychee.

MoYou new Hipster plates 1 and 2 and R&R Lacquers Steve

Here's a closer shot of the check stamp and the glitters in Steve!

MoYou new Hipster plates 1 and 2 and R&R Lacquers Steve

I purchased Hipster plates 1 and 2 from MoYou's website; I purchased the fabulous Smash from R&R Lacquers Assemble collection recently and Rebecca and Rachel very kindly sent me sample sizes of the rest of the collection for review :) R&R Lacquers are available from their Etsy Shop; follow their facebook page for details of upcoming colours (there are some spring colours in the pipeline I have my eye on!). All the other polishes I used here are from my collection and were purchased by me at some point in the past.

Quirk Pinky Promise (LE), Butter London Jasper and a change of nail shape

Quirk Pinky Promise over Butter London Jasper

I just wasn't feeling those points this time around - and nails are just for fun after all, so I filed them back to square yesterday.

Here's a lovely spring pink glitter I was lucky to pick up from Kerrie's Quirk Shop when she released a few LE colours last week. It's called Pinky Promise and it's packed full of matte glitters in all shades and shapes of pink and lavender. I love it! Like all of Kerrie's polishes, application was easy, there's loads of glitter - this is just one coat, smoothed out with Gelous and Seche Vite.

Quirk Pinky Promise over Butter London Jasper

I used Butter London Jasper as the base for this mani - it's a sort of lemony-primrose yellow and quite easy to wear. Although I really like yellow as a colour, and yellow polishes in principle, I do find some yellows (especially the eggy colours) don't look good next  to my pale skin. This one is good though. Being a yellow, it's not the easiest to apply, but the colour is pretty enough to forgive it. The formula is a bit on the thin side and rather streaky; I used three coats but it self leveled OK once I put on Seche Vite.

Quirk Pinky Promise over Butter London Jasper

I purchased BL Jasper from my local Boots a while ago and Quirk Pinky Promise from Kerrie at the Quirk Shop. There were just a few bottles of this and they all seem to have gone now - but I'd definitely recommend anybody who likes this sort of glitter to follow Quirk's facebook page as Kerrie has new colours and LEs pretty regularly!

Seventeen In The Surf

Seventeen In The Surf over John Lewis Brick

I just *happened* on this shade in Boots two or three weeks ago! I love pastel, matte glitters so it was a real surprise to see this - and great to see one of the lower end high street brands dipping their toe into this kind of thing. Go Boots!

Seventeen In The Surf over John Lewis Brick

The polish is a mix of light blue, light green and pastel pink matte hexes in various sizes and some larger peach hexes too. Application was easy - this is one coat and no fishing for glitter required at all. I finished the mani off with a coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite.

My base for this mani is John Lewis nail polish in Brick - another surprise find on the same day. I'd no idea John Lewis even had a polish range, but there are a few rather nice colours (I bought this and one other, which I've not worn yet). Formula of Brick is good, I like the colour, and I like the whole ethos of John Lewis shops (quality products, fair prices, good working conditions for the employees (who are the owners of the company) and no external shareholders), so I'll be keeping my eyes open for other colours they bring out in the future.

Seventeen In The Surf over John Lewis Brick

I purchased Seventeen In The Surf at Boots and John Lewis Brick at John Lewis.  

This is the last of the pointy nails for a while - I enjoyed them this shape the last couple of times I had them like this but I'm not really feeling them this time round, so I've decided to go back to square. I'm off to get my nail file now!

Models Own Blue Glint with ILNP Birefringence (MoYou Sailor plate 07)

Models Own Blue Glint stamped with ILNP Birefringence using MoYou Sailor plate 7

Models Own Blue Glint is one of their new Hypergel colours. It's a super-bright, teal-leaning blue and a shade I absolutely love! Here it is on it's own - I wore it like this for a couple of days before I added the stamping. This is two coats of Blue Glint with Seche Vite quick drying top coat.

Models Own Blue Glint

For the stamping I used ILNP Birefringence, which is a teal to purple duochrome, and one of the swirly patterns on MoYou's Sailor collection plate 7 (XL images). I'm SO impressed with MoYou plates; such a good range of interesting patterns and the XL plates are perfect for longer nails. When I first started stamping there were Konad and Bundle Monster plates, and although there were some nice designs, stamping was something I saved for when I had short nails mostly. No need for that now!

Models Own Blue Glint stamped with ILNP Birefringence using MoYou Sailor plate 7

Birefringence stamps quite easily and I like the abstract effect. I like the duochrome shifting effect - my nails go from a monochrome teal pattern to teal and purple as the light changes. Come to think of it, I have a running top that it is teal with a darker teal pattern on it - this mani would go really well with that.......might wear it tomorrow!

Models Own Blue Glint stamped with ILNP Birefringence using MoYou Sailor plate 7

I purchased Models Own Blue Glint from my local Superdrug (I did get some Hypergels to review but not this one) and I got ILNP Birefringence from a friend. You can buy ILNP polishes direct from their website or from Etsy; they ship internationally.