Clouds and Ducks - Abstract Sky

Allo polish Pals!

How're you all doing today, I hope things are going well for you all? I'm just in my bubble, fending off my cold and looking for work – there still seems to be little going and I know there are talks that a lot of the high street shops are struggling. Until then I continue to paint and keep my spirits up! 

Also these pictures are still with the old camera, I've been having fun with the new one, getting to learn it and I've changed my dark background.. In terms of picture quality improving I'm really not sure but they certainly don't seem to be worse which is good!

Today's nail art features a nail polish I was given by my mum and Christmas. If I am entirely honest I had no nail ideas for this shade but I wanted to use it so badly that I ended up creating something rather weird. I can't say I am 100% happy with this manicure but painting is always fun.

 

Freehand Purple Monochrome Island Nails

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had a fantastic weekend, did you get any snow or do anything fun? I had a long weekend off, it was surprising how tiring those two full days back at work where! I did a little painting, tidying, organising. Nothing exciting but having Saturday through to Wednesday off is giving me time to get my posts in order and catch up on things I wont be able to do during the end of the week.

Today's nail art is inspired by the challenge over on Tiny Canvas where the theme is currently monochrome. I decided to paint an entire scene only with purple paint. I love painting monochrome however I had absolutely no idea what to paint.. somehow I ended up with a little church on an island which I can't help but think looks a little creepy..

Eye Balls Out! Freehand 3D Gel Eye Nails

Allo polish Pals!

And welcome to the start of another weekend, boy doesn't it feel like the first weeks of January are going so quickly? How are those goals and new years resolutions holding up?

Today's nail art is inspired by two things, the first being the current theme over on Tiny Canvas where this weeks nail art prompt is eyes.

The second source of inspiration comes from my seven year old niece. Now.. When I saw the prompt was eyes I found myself a little stuck. I've done something on this theme before and didn't want to do something too similar. So how does my niece come into today's design? Often when she's concentrating hard on something she'll say “Eyeballs out!” I have no idea where this came from, maybe a teacher at school says it...does it sound like something a teach would actually say..?

Anyway, regardless of where her quirky saying comes from when she saw this nail art she read it aloud and erupted into a fit of giggles!

Freehand Cupcake & Party Nail Art - Happy Birthday Tiny Canvas!

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing? I hope you've had a great week. Thank you to those of you who wished me good luck this week and my job interview.. I'm happy to say I had three interviews lined up and I actually got the first job I interviewed for, which is the one I wanted the most!

I should start this coming week and I am so excited. Its not full hours to start with which I think will be a nice way to settle into things. Did I say I am excited?!

Today's nail art is not one I am too happy with.. I had time pressure and made a few mistakes but I really wanted to share something as it was created for Tiny Canvases second birthday. What's Tiny Canvas? Its a beautiful nail group on Facebook – seriously, it is the best nail community I've come across, everyone is so kind, supportive and all the members encourage each other. I've been a moderator for quite a few months now and it is such a joy to be apart of. You can join Tiny Canvas right *here*

So here's my 'Happy Birthday' nails for the current prompt. I'm not sure if these are cupcakes or if there are little kittens under all that icing. Dang! Now I wish I had included ears!

Ultrafine Tiny Holo/Glitter Starry Nail Polish - Born Pretty Store Review

*PressSample* This post contains an item(s) that was provided for reviewing purposes however I will as always give my full and honest opinion.

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you all had a fabulous weekend?

 I'm still struggling to get my passport back. I'm not sure if I should keep my hopes up about the college course as they keep needing more and more proof of who I am. Funny thing is they found my blog. I was like.. “That's mine!!” Deary me.

Anyway, today I have pretty nail polish from the Born Pretty Store to share with you. I didn't actually select this one but I like surprises! This is 'Ultrafine Tiny Holo/Glitter Starry Nail Polish'.

Freehand Video Game - Pikachui, The Sims, Mario + More Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had a great week but yay for the weekend, am I right? I hope you'll have a great weekend, be it a chilled or busy one.

Still no news on getting my passport back, the likeliness of doing this course seems to be dimming a little but I'm thinking about the 'what if's' just in case. Even if I can't start the course in November I'll still need to be doing something in terms of work or training.

Anyway! Back to another Tiny Canvas theme prompt, this weeks challenge I picked because the 12^th of September is video game day and I thought the members would have so many possible ideas for this theme.

I myself decided to go for a scramble with this nail art. A bit of everything!

Freehand Gradient & Tropical Sunset Squares Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? I hope you've had an awesome week and an even better weekend planned :)  After a full and eventful week of more babysitting which included some Disney films (Homeward Bound 1 & 2, The Rescuers Down Under) Some lovely nature walks, Playing in the park and lots of duck feeding I am welcoming the weekend. It's lovely to spend so much time with my Niece but I need a recharge!

I feel like I have not painted in forever, so my goal this morning is to get a new design done.
Do you have anything nice planned?

Today's nail art is another summer design. Quick cram them in before I can no longer call it summer! This one is quite odd but I am glad I did it – its 'a lot to look at' but I think it looks kinda cool!

Wanna know something random? This post is my 800th!!!! How is that even possible?!

Freehand Purple Dragon For Dani's Birthday!

Allo polish Pals,

How are you all doing today? Everything is going pretty well here. I've spent the past week sort my room out (just fine tweaking to make it more..'mine') and today my Helmer should arrive. I'm excited that my polishes will have a proper home!

If you follow me on Instagram or are part of Tiny Canvas you may have already seen this nail art as it was created for a birthday collaboration.

Yesterday was my dear friend and Tiny Canvas admin and owner Dani's birthday! The other moderators and I all got together to create a surprise collaboration for her in the hopes of giving her a few smiles. Dani is a really wonderful person, she's so warm and funny. Its not just my friendship with Dani I am grateful for but all the work she put into creating Tiny Canvas, keeping it running and all the amazing people who have benefited from her hard work in the nail community. She'll be the reason why so many nail enthusiasts are friends - that's pretty awesome!

It was decided the theme would be purple & dragons, two of her favourite things!

Since a lot of my stuff had been boxed up and moved to England during the time of painting this I had to use my Barry M 'White' and work heavily with my acrylic paints – I had thought of the perfect purple polish to use but alas.. it was not to be.

I began with my usual OPI base coat and once dry applied my Barry M 'White'. I again allowed time to dry and proceeded with my Pro-FX top coat to create a nice base for my acrylics to stick to. I created a dark acrylic-gradient using my fluff brush (I'm SURE its not intended for this use!) and used my fave Pure Color and Whatsupnails brushes for all the details. I finished off with two coats of top coat and finally my Barry M top coat.

I am kinda pleased with my dragon!! I avoided trying a proper dragon for so long, now I think why?! My only qualm is why didn't I make more of an interesting background? I should have had mountains or something.. argh.. well..

What do you guys think of my birthday-dragon tribute? Have you done dragon nails before?

Have an amazing day! Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments. I'll be back again on Wednesday.

Love,

Ithi

Irregular Colourful Crystal Rhinestone Nail Art Decorations - Born Pretty Store Review

 

*This post contains an item(s) that was provided for reviewing purposes however I will as always give my full, honest and completely unbiased opinion.

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you had a fantastic end to your week. Do you have anything awesome planned this weekend?

I'm looking forward to spending more time with my Niece and Nephew – They have loved having me home! I'm still having to tell my Niece I'll be there for her birthday and I'll be there for Christmas and that I'm not going anywhere. Too cute!

Today I am showing you an interesting item from the Born Pretty Store – I wasn't too sure what to expect when I picked this to review but I am just in love with this stuff! This is 'Irregular Colourful Crystal Rhinestone Nail Art Decorations'– or I'll put it more simply... brightly coloured shell-like bits!

Just a warning.. I took this picture before sorting out my new light set up so please excuse the quality!

These beautiful bright pieces come in black pot with a clear lid and contain approximately 2g. On the website there are two colour options, the colourful (This one) or a clear version which happens to look a lot like opals I think. The pieces in this pot range from all different colours, there are pink, red, blue, yellow, green..and more. It is a good mix and fairly distributed through the spectrum for an even mix of colours.

How? I wore these by gently dropping them on top of my wet top coat. I love how these look. I feel like they give a really cute beachy look, these would look great with a beach style manicure (why am I only thinking of this now?!) Once they were on the nail I pressed them ever so gently, just to tease any sticky-up ones into laying flatter. The lines were simply swipes of acrylic paint.

Overall I really love these and I think I'll be dipping back into the pot again in no time. I like the mixture of colours and how they stay rather nicely on the nail – I would say though.. if you are expecting a long wear time on these I'd suggest finding a sturdier way to attach them then just top coat.

What do you think of the colourful shell-like pieces? Do you love or hate wearing 3D nail art pieces?

Have a super weekend guys, thank you so much for stopping by! I'll catch you again on Monday for some more nail art fun!

Love,

Ithi

Born Pretty Store 'Together Forever' Holographic Nail Polish Swatch & Review

*This post contains an item(s) that was sent for reviewing purposes however I will as always give my full and honest opinion.

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you are having a great week so far. Has anything awesome happened?

Give me one incident that made you smile so far this week? Mine would be seeing a swan nest with both parents and 7 baby swans! Beautiful.. I love just...seeing life doing its thing.

Today I have a holographic nail polish from the Born Pretty Store to share with you, this is 'Together Forever'. 

My nails look so long compared to how they currently look!

'Together Forever' is a beautiful lilac holographic polish. I wanted to say its purple but there are some subtle undertones of pink and silver going on. This polish leans towards the thinner side but I am really happy with its consistency. I had absolutely no troubles with the texture of this polish and was super impressed with its dry time and finishing look.

I photographed this polish with three thin coats and the holo effect was super strong when in the sunlight – this is certainly no weak holo!

This is one polish that sits very happily within my nail polish collection!

What do you guys think of this light purple holo? Have you tried any Born Pretty Store holo polishes, do you have a fave?

Have a great day! Thank you so much for visiting today, don't forget to come say hi! I'll be back on Saturday with some more freehand nail art. 

Love,

Ithi

Freehand Sesame Street's Count Von Count - Vampire Dracula

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you've got something lovely to look forward to this weekend?

I think I'm going to get some time outside in the fresh air, weather permitting! Its been so hit and miss with the weather this week. Hurry up, summer!

Today's nail art is one that comes with fond memories. I don't know about you but maths wasn't my best subject in score... I have always been hopeless with numbers – once, many moons ago when I was in school I got pulled aside as I had all my answers completely backwards. If the answer was 81 I'd written 18! The teacher thought I may have Dyscalculia which is the mathematical version of dyslexia.

Anyway.. There was one time in my life where maths could bring me joy. THANK YOU Sesame Street for making maths and numbers less scary and of course all the lovely, squishy, cuddly friends you introduced me to!

When I found out this weeks challenge over on Tiny Canvas had the theme Dracula I knew I had to pay homage for my first ever maths teacher Count Von Count! Also, the reason for this weeks theme is because Dracula day falls on the 26^th of May – Yeah.. I'm a bit early but hey :)

I'm a bit 'eeeeh' with my Count, I really wanted him to be spot on and I can see things that are just 'not right' that don't make him look identical.. but I tried.

For this manicure I used a polish besides white, BAHAHA. Can you believe it? I swear, no lies!

I used my usual OPI Nail Envy base coat and once dry applied two coats of Catrice's 'Must-Have STEELetto' – a perfect and silvery lilac. I thought this would be a great contrast against other purples. I attempted to create a swirly gradient and of course painted Count Von Count himself.

I finished it all off with my PRO-FX top coat and eventually my matte top coat.

What do you guys think of my Count Von Count? Who was your fave Sesame Street friend?

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends! Thank you so much for visiting :) I'll catch you again on Monday!

Love,

Ithi

2 Manicures In 1 Post! Holograpghic Laser Stripes Nail Art Glitter Sequins - BeautyBigBang Review

*This post contains an item(s) that was supplied for reviewing purposes however I will as always give my full and honest opinion.

 

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing? I hope you are having a great week so far :)

Today I have another product from BeautyBigBang.com to share with you, these are LaserStripes Holographic Round Thin Sequins Nail Decorations. Basically.. really small cute studs with a line of holo running through them.

For this review I have two looks to show you! Why? Because I was highly dissatisfied with both of them.. sigh.

 Keep reading, there's another manicure to see!

Chameleon Glitter Paillette Shinning Starry Foils Nail Art Powder

*This post contains an item(s) which was provided for reviewing purposes however I will as always give my full, honest and completely unbiased opinion.

Allo poliish Pals!

How are you all doing today? Happy Flappy, fluprin' weekend to you all! - do you feel like you need the weekend right about now? I hope you have something nice planned. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my Dutch family. I think its going to be positively busy which has been the running theme for this week.

Today I am showing you another product from Beautybigbang.com, this is 'Nail ChameleonGlitter Paillette Nail Sequins Shinning Starry Foils Nail Art Powder' in J2106-2C which is a bluey/violet purple/pinky powder – it may remind you of something I used recently but to make this post a little more interesting (Yoda, anyone?) I have included a video on how to use these powders since they are so easy. Gel phobes, look, its not so scary.

I'm trying really hard to practice making videos. I know its something I should have been doing since.. forever ago but when it comes to freehand my painting hand gets in the way of the shots no matter how hard I try, haha! Also my pesky fingers don't sit still.

Music track 'Warm Up Suit' is copyright Broke For Free

The full pot - you get a generous amount.

Freehand Butterfly Fibromyalgia Awareness Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? Since we're half way through the week, gimme a little update :) I love to know you are all doing well.

Today's nail art is prompted by the weekly challenge over on Tiny Canvas although its also for a really special cause, we are creating awareness nails for Fibromyagia syndrome (Also known as FMS) which is a long term condition that causes pain all over the body and suffers can also experience increased sensitivity to pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness and issues with memory and mood.

I feel like its one of those syndromes that many may not have heard of but for the suffer it is a battle each and every day – in our day to day lives we don't always know or realise what others are going through so awareness is key if we want to be understanding and supportive! :)

If you would like more information on this syndrome please check out this very useful website.

 

Symbols most regularly used for Fibromyagia awareness are butterflies and purple ribbons. I decided to go for the butterflies because while they are beautiful, they are delicate – but they are also very powerful and strong insects so I felt like that was fitting. No matter the pain of the sufferer they are strong because of the challenges they must face each and everyday.

For this manicure I began with a coat of my NYC peel off base coat (ideal when using any gel related products. F.NO do I want to spend 9 hours trying to remove gel ;) Pardon me.

Once this had turned transparent I applied two coats of my Astra purple. Once this had dried I added a coat of BlueSky gel top coat which after cured has the tacky layer, I then pressed some loose glitters on top and sealed again with another layer of top coat. I then proceeded to add my freehand design and completed this manicure with my Pro-FX regular top coat and eventually tried it in matte too.

I have to say.. I am having fun playing with gel products lately, I love how deep the sparkles are when using gel, it seems to encapsulate them!

Have you aware of Fibromyagia? What do you think of my glittery butterfly manicure?

Thank you so much for visiting today, my friends. I hope you have a wonderful day.

I'll be back on Saturday with a little of this to look forward to:

Love,

Ithi

Freehand Cadbury Cream Egg Nail Art With 3D Gel Drips & Spoon

Allo Polish Pals!

I hope you are having an awesome day! Do you have anything nice planned over the weekend? Are you celebrating Easter in any way, or is it just a normal Sunday for you?

Sometimes holidays can be hard to post as I hate the idea of upsetting people who may believe in different religions. I'm absolutely not religious but I hate the idea of offending people..

So today I am going down the chocolate route and actually giving myself a taste of nostalgia as I used to eat Cadbury Cream Eggs when I was a child, I would get so excited when the shops would start selling them. I can't really eat chocolate any more nor would I really enjoy eating it but I thought it would make a fun idea for nail art!

For this design I began by using my OPI 'Nail Envy' base coat. Next I applied two coats of Probelle's 'Textured Purple' polish to all my nails. I then used my brushes and acrylic paints to paint the freehand Cadbury cream eggs and ruffian in white and yellow around my cuticles.

I then took a little of my Bluesky gel polish to create some 3D drips to my middle and ring fingers, once this was cured under my lamp and wiped clean I painted them in white and yellow to look like the sugary yolk. I then used a small amount of top coat to attached the miniature 3D spoon (which actually came with a tiny pot of flocking powder I won – I'd wanted to use it for ages!)

I finished it all off by adding my Barry M 'Matte' top coat.

I'll tell you something – having your nails stuck together makes for really awkward hand poses! I was glad to free them after I'd taken pictures.

What do you think of these totally inconvenient nails? Have you done any egg nails before?

I hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever you have planned. I will see you again on Monday for some more nail art fun!

Love

Ithi

Mardi Gras Twin Mani with @Jodies_Nailz

Allo polish Pals,

How are you doing today? I hope you had a fab weekend, did you do anything exciting?

I just thought I'd let you know also that from now on I'll be posting Monday's, Wednesday's and Saturday's. I've always been pretty organised with my blog but posting every other day felt a bit too fast sometimes. Creating nail art and posting it, I was keeping up fine but I couldn't really get ahead of myself as much as I'd like.

Did you know that tomorrow is Mardi Gras? According to Google its also called Shrove Tuesday – Which is what I and my fellow English call it, although Mardi Gras translates to 'Fat Tuesday' in French (Yes, I always try and do my homework on time!) The 'Fat Tuesday' references the last night celebrations of eating richer and fattier foods before the ritual fasting of the Lent season. It is mostly celebrated all around the world in different ways.

Also in this post I'd love to introduce you to my dear friend, Jodie. She's an absolutely lovely lady and it was her idea to get together for our second twin manicure for Mardi Gras. Please go and check out her IG @Jodies_Nailz – She's a seriously skilled stamper with kickass manicures!

Purple Monochrome Freehand Mountains & Planets

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you have been having a great weekend?

Its been a bit of an odd one here, you know when nothing happens quite as it should, the time goes too fast, then it drags..

I don't know if I told you guys yet but you may have heard me talk fondly of a Facebook community by my good friend, Dani. Its called Tiny Canvas and I often enjoy taking part in the weekly challenges – the themes give me new ideas and inspiration, but I've been promoted to a moderator! Its quite fun so far!

This weeks challenge was 'Monochromatic Nails' – I had no idea what to do when I started this so I don't know how I ended up with mountains and planets!!

This nail art was actually really fun to do because I really had to think about what shades of purple to use, I don't have hundreds of purple acrylic shades so I had to mix and match as best as I could. I think the effect is really interesting and I will probably try it again in the future. Of course I had to see this in its matte version, which do you like best?

Would you like to see me do full free hand again in monochrome but another colour?

Have you ever had monochrome nails? How does this nail art make you feel? - don't forget to have your say!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my friends! I'll catch you again on Tuesday for some more freehand fun!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Christmas Snowman & Rabbit Holo Nail Art

Allo polish Pals

How are you all doing today? Are you excited for Christmas?!

This year I'll be posting again on Christmas day, since my blog schedule just happens to fall on the actual day I figured I may as well post!

For today thought I've got two more little snow buddies to share with you, I wanted to have a very delicate and pretty holo manicure so I decided to really only paint on two nails. You'll see what I mean. This manicure was inspired by this picture I found on Pinterest.

For this manicure I began with my Mezmris Nail Lacquer base coat, Armor Up and once dry I applied two coats of Le Beaut in no.24 in a dusty lilac shade – this was a polish my mum bought for me during her last holiday to Greece, I can't find much information about the brand! Once this was dry I added a delicate, thin coat of Polish Me, Royalty!'s 'Unicornucopia' which added a beautiful holographic sparkle. I then freehanded my snowman and rabbit using my fave Pure Color brush in #9 and finished off by sealing it all in with two coats of Mezmris Nail Lacquer's 'Armor'.

What do you guys think of this manicure? It was sort of nice to do something detailed but without having to do EEEEVERY nail. How lazy does that sound? I still spent a lot of time on those two nails, ha!

I'm off to a Christmas concert later today with my sister-in-law, I'm excited!

I hope you guys have a beautiful day, Let me know in the comments what you are getting upto! I'll be back on Sunday...Christmas day, wahoo!!

Love

Ithi