Freehand Purple Starry Skies & Tree Silhouette

Allo polish Pals!

Come, sit down and help yourself to a cup of tea/coffee! How are you doing today?

Is there much going on with you? I'll be starting my day with a 3 mile dance-walk DVD (For the good all day feels!) followed by the boring housework stuff..but then.. I have two ideas sketched out and I am roaring to get going on some nails!

Today's manicure was inspired by the picture, it was very kindly sent to me by a lovely lady named Gill who is also in the nail community (TC, If you'd like the doorway to a loving fun filled nail art community just let me know!) I have become very attached to, Thanks Gill!

I accepted the challenge with great enthusiasm and while the end result does differ to the original picture I do really like it!

Soft Whites And Pink Floral

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? I hope your week has started out nicely?

Just a warning... my domain issues are still not resolved. *face palm* this is becoming insanely frustrating. Basically, just when I thought it was fixed  I had an email to tell me the transfer had failed. It then took nearly three weeks to get a reply from someone I needed to change a few technical details. I finally got a reply yesterday and went to start the transfer process again.. to discover I need more details from other companies. Basically... I'm powerless to do anything. I do not like having no control and having to depend/wait on other people! IF I vanish... I'll be back. Don't ever think I'd just quit! I can't say I even know if or when it will happen but until then... Posting is as normal :)

 For now I have a really simple floral design which was based on *this* pin.

For this manicure I began by applying two coats of Barry M's 'White' and once dry I used a sandwich bag to dab on a little of Essence's 'Girl With A Pearl' and DA's '#103' for a very soft – barely visible marble look. Next I took my acrylic paints and painted the flowers, which I finished off by partially outlining with Barry M's 'Gold Foil'.

Its a pretty simple look but I kinda like...

What do you guys think of this manicure? Do you ever need a little rest-bite from painting when things just don't go well?

Have a wonderful day, I'll be back with some more Born Pretty Store products soon!

Love

Ithi

Guest Blogging Over At Roaring Nails

Allo polish Pals!

Lets keep this short and sweet, I'm not here today but I am delighted to be posting at my good friend Robin's blog, Roaring Nails. I am a huge fan of her blog and I am so glad to be posting there. I've got an interesting freehand manicure with animals, but you wont find the information here! If you want to see it you will have to go visit Robin's blog. Come on, what are you waiting for?!

While you page loads, can you figure out what it is?

Lets go visit Robin at Roaring Nails!

Pink Waves For Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Allo polish Pals!

Are you having a good weekend? I'm so sorry for my vanishing act and I am a little behind on commenting, I promise I am doing my best to catch up with everything! I missed you guys...

Now...Today I am featuring a manicure to help raise awareness for breast cancer as many of you have done this month. I think it is so important to raise awareness for this cause and to honor the many amazing and brave women who may currently be fighting, survived or tragically lost their fight too early. Why is it important to raise awareness? It's crucial we educate our youngster's so that they know that it is good to know their bodies, to be comfortable checking themselves and the correct ways to do so, there is an easy to follow guide *here* Not only is it important to raise awareness for funding and research but an early diagnosis can really help catch cancer in time. I send my deepest and absolute love and thoughts to those who have been inflicted with this awful disease. 

The manicure: I started with two coats of Yes Love's 'G12-1' (pearly baby pink) on my ring finger and continued with Essie's 'A Cut Above'. I then applied a matte topcoat and created the breast cancer awareness symbol, the pink ribbon. On all the other nails I started with Fogan's '16' (a bright metallic pink) and used a plastic sandwich bag to gently add the Yes Love pink, DA's '103', and Fogan's '16' and '11' to create a sort of arty textured look. I then used a light pink which I mixed from my Oumaxi acrylic paints to add some subtle wavy lines. I also decided to see how this looked with a matte top coat. I think I prefer it matte, it looks much softer!

Have you been raising awareness for breast cancer? - What did you do? What do you think of this very pink manicure?

Have a great weekend guys, I'll be more organized this week – promise!

Love

Ithi

Day 11: Polka Dots

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? I'm pleased to say I'm feeling pretty dandy today and managing to be quite productive ~ Go me! The next couple of days are going to be pretty hectic and a total shake up from my normal routine but I'm going to embrace it and have a lot of fun. I'm not going to let my syndrome hold me back or stop me having a social life! For today's post I have my 11^th day of the 31 day nail art challenge which asks for polka dots. How do you feel about polka dot nails/clothing?

On all my fingers except my index and ring finger I began with two coats of Yes Love's #070 which is a gorgeous blue with a fantastic soft looking finish. I then applied my spots using a dotting tool and Yes Love's white polish. On my remaining fingers I used two coats of DA's #043 and once dry marked off the areas using reinforcement rings; I then painted the rest of the nail with the Yes Love blue and added my spots.

What do you think about this manicure? Would it be too dotty for you to wear?

Have a beautiful day!

Love

Ithi

Day 10: Gradient Nails (Pink Sparkle!)

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? Is the start of your week going smoothly? I have to say I'm upside down and completely backwards in everything. Yesterday was a national holiday here and all my days are jumbled up, it doesn't feel like a Tuesday at all... What does a Tuesday feel like?

Do you ever feel like the days are mixed up? I'm rambling! Today I have day 10 of the 31 day nail art challenge which is gradient nails. I actually came up with a design I was so pleased with but decided to re-do as it wasn't quite as neat as I'd have liked. Then of course everything went wrong, the heat wasn't helping so I decided to just stick to a full gradient. I'll be re doing the idea I liked for my striped nails day :)

I'm not happy with this gradient at all but if I get nit-picky and fussy I'll never create a post good enough (in my standards) to show you, so here it is anyway. I started off with two coats of Catrice's 'Chromit and Miss Piggy' and used DA's #103 and Nicole by Opi's 'Pretty As Plum'. That's all.

I know its not particularly fancy or anything but a gradient it is.. I do love how the middle pink sparkles though.

What do you think of this gradient? Have you created a pink gradient before?

Hope you have a lovely day!

Love

Ithi

The 31 Day Challenge: Day 3 - Yellow

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? I hope your having a great weekend. I've been pretty busy today helping look after my Dutch Nieces. I've been really impressed that the two year old knows a lot of English words! Have you been up to much today? For day 3 of the 31 day nail art challenge I'm supposed to do yellow nails. I thought of Bee's, Lemons, Tweety Pie and all sorts before settling on the little yellow pokemon that everyone loves ~ Pikachu!

On my thumb and middle finger I began with two coats of DA's #103 (I think) and added my pika's using Oumaxi (Via SammyDress) acrylic paints. On my other nails I used Catrice's 'Glamazon' and added a little of the 103 to the tips.

I'm not very happy with how this turned out, I think it looks rough and bumpy and I was really desperate to finish these. If I did it again I would certainly try to make the two plain nails more interesting and perhaps more like lightening.   I'm not even sure I used top coat on my ring finger {Fail!}

What do you think of these very yellow nails? Did you like Pokemon when you were younger??For the next nail art challenge post I'll be using green!

Have a great weekend!

Love

Ithi

The Flaky Zebra

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? Have you had a productive day? Since I'm still battling with my illness and working out how to get sick less often (You'd think after around 10 years of this it would all be sussed out by now, Hah, such is life.) On the plus side I did some easy house-work and will enjoy tonight with some of my favorite new shows and nail painting; I also have Mr Bravo home with me tonight so I can't complain! Today's look was a little 'trial and error'. Animal print terrifies me, I never wear zebra print on clothing or hand bags... But let's see how I cope with it on my nails!

On my thumb and middle finger I started with two coats of China Glaze's 'Flyin' High' and applied a generous amount of Zoya's 'Maisie' (One of my very rare but well loved flakies) on top. I finished these off by adding two gems. 

 On all my other nails I began with one thin coat of Barry M's 'Matte White' and once dried applied another thin coat of DA's #103. I then created some zebra striped decals using W7'S 'Black' and the Cheeky nail stamping plate #02. I finished these nails off by applying 'Flyin' High' and 'Maisie' on the tips and used my Kiss stripe pens to define the angle slightly.

What do you think of these nails? Do you like the combination of stripes with greeny/blue?

Have a great day!

Love

Ithi

Pinky Purple Snow Drops

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? I hope you are all well. I'm having one of those days; Keep the coffee comin'! I decided that today I would show you a manicure I did which I was really quite happy with. Of course, sometimes things aren’t that simple. When I was in England I changed a few things about how I took my pictures... Now that I am back home I see a huge drop in picture quality. Hopefully soon this will be permanently fixed soon; Fingers crossed my pictures will come out better constantly once I have that sorted. So this manicure while it is so pretty in person, really the gradient looks really striking! It just doesn't show too great in pictures... sigh!

So ashamed of this mani! :/

Inspired by Robin Moses

On all my nails I started by creating a gradient. To do this I first applied two coats of Barry M's 'Baby Pink'. I then sponged on Color Club's 'Cloud 9', DA's '112', and Model's Own 'Amethyst' to go from pinky-holo to purple. I used a small brush and white and black acrylic paints to create the flowers. I could have done a much better job and I am hating looking at these pictures...

What do you think of this manicure? Are you fond of gradients and floral together?

Have a beautiful day!

Love

Ithi

Modern Funky Christmas Tree

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? Its three days until I go back to England now and I'm beginning to fap around like a frantic chicken; Trying to get all the laundry done so there's nothing waiting for me when I return in January but every time I turn around there is somehow more socks or clothing that needs to be washed. Phew. Today I am sharing my first real Christmas nails, I had so many idea's for making different styles of tree's but this is my first one :)

I started with two coats of DA's 043(?) I then used striping tape to create a triangle on the tips of my nails and painted it in with N07's 'Totally Teal'. Once that was dried I applied more tape to put a zig zag through the triangle and painted over with Essie's 'The More The Merrier'. I finally finished the manicure off by applying a mixture of cavier beads from MUA and Layla for the baubles and added a thin coat of Model's Own 'Gold Rush' over the N.nail star studs just because I believe a tree needs a fairy/angel/star/something at the top to finish it!

What do you think of this modern looking Christmas Tree? Have you started to create some festive manicures yet?

Hope you have a great day!

Love

Ithi

Powdery Stripes

Allo polish Pals,

How are you today? I hope you've had a great weekend so far. This weekend has been a real mix! Yesterday I launched a full cleaning assault. Mr Bravo was away playing Super League Darts (I did say he was good!) and I needed to keep myself busy. I always miss him, how soppy! Today we walked to the big mall and for the first time ever we saw a double rainbow! if I'd only have had my phone with me to snap a picture :( Boo. Anyway.. Today's post was created earlier this week and I have to admit I am struggling to remember what colours I used, ha.

On all my nails I started off with two coats of DA's '18' which is a beautiful pearly white.

I then applied my striping tape in horizontal lines and with every other line I only took it half way alternating directions. On my thumb and pinkie I created a gradient using China Glaze's 'Something Sweet', Picture Polishes 'Sky' and Barry M's 'Prickly Pear'.

Then on my remaining fingers another gradient using Essie's 'Cool Cascade', Picture Polishes 'Wisteria' and another blue I can't remember ~ Sorry! I of course finished off with my Seche Vite top coat.

In my opinion its not the all time greatest gradient I've ever done but I am happy with the colours.

What do you think of this look? So you like the softer colours on the thumb and pinkie?

Love

Ithi

Happy Halloween! Zombie Makeup And Nails!

Allo polish Pals and Happy Halloween to you all!

I hope if you decide to celebrate Halloween you have a fantastic time and remember to travel safe! Being English I've never properly celebrated this holiday much myself but tonight seems like a great excuse to watch some horror films with Mr Bravo later, one of our favourite genre's!

Today's manicure is a little lack-lustre Halloween attempt.. I also thought I'd show you some Zombie makeup I did several years ago, just because.. why not?

I started with two coats of DA's '103', a truly beautiful bewitching shade and created a gradient using DA's '112' and Essie's 'Cashmere Bathrobe' on the tips. I then used my mash nail art pen to attempt some feeble silhouettes of zombies. Meh.. I can't say I'm too happy with this manicure but I wanted to post something even slightly Halloween-y!

What do you think of this manicure? Have you ever tried Zombie Makeup?

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Love

Ithi

Phoenix Feather's Water Marble Nails

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? I hope your having a great week, we're almost at the weekend again, phew! I'm recovering from my cold again and decided that with the drab gloomy weather here in Holland I needed something warm and vibrant on my fingies! Today's manicure is inspired by the legendary Phoenix! It occurred to me after I finished this that phoenixes may not appreciate the fact I chose to do a water marble.. Don't get a phoenix wet if you want to be in its good books!

On my ring finger I painted two coats of Rimmel's 'Reggae Splash' and created a phoenix feather using Mash nail art pen in black for the stem and China Glaze's 'Red Satin', DA '#202' and DA '# 205' for the feathers. On my other nails I painted two coats of China Glaze's 'Sunshine Pop!' and created a water marble using Picture Polishes 'Fake Tan' and China Glaze 'Red Satin'. I finished by adding a few pinky diamond 'Gleequins' from the Born Pretty Store.

I chose to use the Gleequins as whenever I move my hand in the light they just sparkle like floating embers! I just thought it was too pretty not to pair together!

What do you think of my flamey water marble? Have you tried a marble with warm colours?

Have a wonderful day!

Love

Ithi

Nails Inspired by... Frogs!

Allo polish Pals,

How are you today? Today's manicure is actually one I created earlier in the week. I had so many good idea's planned that once again I was trying too hard. Sometimes I think that trying too hard can leave me even less productive. Recently I was doing some googling for interesting creatures and I came across a little beauty called a Poison Dart Frog. I was really taken to the blue shades and funky pattern. You know I love blue! After I created this I suddenly remembered that the ever so lovely Gelic had also done a poison dart frog in the past (I hadn't remembered which frog due to different colours, duuh). I much prefer her version!

I started with two coats of DA's '045' and created a gradient using Gabrini in 'N04' which is a sheer bright neon blue. I then took W7's black and created the spots using various sized dotting tools.

My version of the Poison Dart frog is pretty simple but I do love the blue gradient. Anything with blue or gradients and I'm happy. I'm also hoping to try some fishy colours and patterns too very soon.

What do you think of this manicure? Have you created manicures based on natural colours and markings?

Enjoy your Thursday!

Love

Ithi

Tokidoki Milky Latte Freehand Nails!

Hi everyone!

I have a nail art surprise for you today. I have attempted some freehand nail art based on one of my favourite designs. I love Tokidoki and their cute gorgeous patterns and characters so I decided to test out the Mash nail pens out some more by trying their Latte Milk carton cow! I hope you like!

UK readers! If your looking for some really good priced manicure items this is a great site. I recently came across it and will be ordering for myself for when I visit England soon. I think their products are so reasonable ~ 50 orange sticks for £2.95, say wuut! Check it out at the kleeneze shop.

 

 

 

I started with my usual base coat and applied two coats of DA's light blue. I then added a single coat of Deborah Lippmann's 'Light As Air' to my index, ring and pink and coated with Model's Own Pro matte topcoat. I then added a milky droplet look to my index and ring fingers using Mash nail art pen in white. I used the same pen to create the 'latte' text on my middle finger. For my thumb nail art I used all of the above and used Color Club's 'Normadic in nude' for the horns and Mash nail art pen in black to create the outline. I rather like that this is a matte look! You can blame the patchyness on the fact I went over the same area too many times perhaps.

This isn't perfect(obviously :c) but in terms of freehand nail art this is a big step for me and I am 'ok' with this little test! What do you guys think of my milky latte manicure?

Have a nice day!

Love

Ithi