Neon half moons

Oh what a horrid rainy day it is in the UK. So I thought I'd post some summery neon nails to cheer myself up. Come on sunshine!

This neon is one of my favourite polishes! I started with a base of Models Own Pro in French White all over the nail. Then the neon, which is Models Own in Pink Punch, over the top, leaving a half moon gap at the base of each nail. And then as an afterthought, I added the defining black line using a Models Own nail art pen. So it's a Models Own takeover!

Putting the white underneath the neon makes it even brighter!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Polish days - Vintage

Well seeing as I've been a bit slow on the posts recently I thought I'd at least make the effort to join in on this month's Polish Days - the blogger event organised by the lovely Polly Polish.

This month's theme is vintage and I decided to pay homage to art deco - I've always loved a bit of Rennie Mackintosh!

This is two coats of Revlon Top Speed in Stormy. The detail is free hand using Models Own in Utopia, Models Own nail art pen in black and No7 nail art pen in silver.

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Be my valentine

Quick post tonight...my cheeky Valentines nails are currently on Boots Facebook page! They seem to have split the vote - some people loving them but others seem to think I have crusty hands, lol! Best get myself to Boots for some hand cream!

This is two coats of Models Own Pro in French White Tip. Followed by a free hand painted design using Models Own Nail Art Pen for the black and Bourjois 10 day anti-chip in shade 20 for the red.

Happy Valentines everyone! Right, best go and get scrubbing these crusty hands of mine! Feel free to comment and share the Boots FB post if you disagree

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Rum punch

Those of you who are my friends will know I've been lucky enough to have been away in the Caribbean for work on the island of St Vincent... mainly because I've been instragramming like crazy everyday...sorry! I couldn't help it...the island was so beautiful.

My friends will also know that I tan in like 5 minutes so have come back very brown - almost dirty looking! The bonus here is that bright nails look even brighter. So I took inspiration from the the most popular island drink...a rum punch...

...and created a very simple but 'punchy' look! (photo taken in situ for max effect!)

And for good measure I did my toes too!..

This is two coats of W7 in Fluorescent Pink followed by a diagonal covering of Max Factors Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Red Carpet Glam. I flipped them round on the toes.

For base and top coat I used Rimmel 5 in 1 Nail Treat Base & Top Coat  Total Care Action. This was a packing space saver but i must say I wish I'd just taken my favourite separates as I ended up with chips on day 2 of the mani.

Can't wait for some UK sunshine to start working those fluoro shades!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Polish days - Get back to nature

It's Polish day time again - the monthly blogger event set up but the lovely Polly Polish. I, unfortunately, missed last months' in the haze of post Christmas back to reality, so even though I'm currently overseas with work I made sure I did a design ready to post. The theme is 'back to nature' so pretty broad and I had a vision of a daisy chain but it didn't quite work out like that in the limited time I had before my trip, but it certainly still fits the brief...

So just a quick run down of the polishes used... the base blue is one coat of H&M Nail colour in Blue my Mind. Then using a striping brush I added the grass using Bad Apple in Green Apple. Then added the flower detail using Models Own nail art pens in white and yellow.

All finished off with a generous coat of Save the Nail 45 second top coat.

And as we're talking about nature I thought I'd share the beautiful sunset here in the Caribbean...

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Funky matte french

So I'm not a huge lover of matte top coats - often finding they just make you look like you've scratched the sheen of a nice glossy polish. But I think it all depends what colour you're top coating and also the quality of the top coat. I've found one I really love from Models Own Pro which gives a lovely satin finish rather than dull matte.

This twist on the classic french manicure is two coats of Essie Nail Lacquer in Fancy Pants, followed by a free hand striking fuchsia tip using Models Own in Purple Passion (I personally think it's more pink than purple!). Finished off with the Models Own Pro Matte top coat. You can't really tell from the photo but the finish is a lovely muted sheen rather than being completely dull matte.

I think the colour combo works really well. The key is to use a muted sophisticated colour for the base and then a colour that really pops for the tip. It's a great way to venture into nail art or to take a boring work mani to the next level without being over the top!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx

Acid angles

So as the snow scuppered my plans this weekend I decided to get ahead of the seasons and rock out some truly summer colours to bring some sunshine into my life!

I absolutely love acid colours so didn't feel I should have to wait til summer to wear them!

The base orange is two coats of Angelica Nail Colour in Hip Hop from Primark. I then free hand painted a inverted triangle using Barry M Nail Paint in Matt White, followed by a smaller triangle in Bourjois Ultra Shine So Laque in Lime Catwalk. Then using a black nail art pen, I used Models Own, I defined the triangles.

The result would have been a lot better if I'd used tape for cleaner lines but oh well! I'm trying not to sweat the small stuff as much in 2013!

I used W7 top coat to finish off.

Happy painting... the nailist xxx