Blue Alley Deals

For today I've got a glitter gradient gradating from a magenta glitter up toward a royal blue. I pulled out two somewhat dusty, unused colors from my Helmer to get this manicure. They both live in the same drawer, which is a hodgepodge of Essie, OPI, Wet n' Wild and a few other mismatches that don't have enough family members to buy their own Helmer drawer. Don't feel sorry for this drawer though, it's quite a party in there. The Kleancolor Chunky Holos and the entire Wet n' Wild Color Icon collection live in there. Solids and neutrals beware, this drawer's trouble!

I love the combination of these two royal, jewel toned colors paired together that comes across even more stunning in real life. Back Alley Deals and Saved by the Blue both come from Wet n' Wild. Saved by the Blue is one of those polishes that's always on the shelf, but you'll be lucky to find anymore Back Alley Deals. That collection was a limited time assortment of glitters only available at Walgreen's, and of course, only for a limited time. It's cruel how companies insist on creating the best polishes for only a limited time, and leave their less inspiring shades out year round.

Gilded Leaves

Recently, I won my first giveaway by luck of the draw over at grape fizz nails. The prize was the coveted Whimsical (Revlon) and another beauty, Violetta Sparkle (Avon). That package arrived today from Canada, so I decided to use my prize for tonight's manicure.

I had an impossible time trying to get a good picture of the combination I came up with, so these pictures aren't the best. You get the general idea though.

The plate used is BM-11, which is quickly becoming my favorite plate to stamp with. (I used it a while back during my mini self-challenge and again for Secret Agent Lila.) The polish to stamp with is Passion (China Glaze). They're more fun in person. I couldn't quite get the shine from Seche Vite to show up properly.

Thank you again Anne for the lovely giveaway, and the great prizes!

Hyacinth and Black Striped Nails for Motel Rocks!

Some exciting news is that I have recently accepted the position of resident Nail Art Blogger (along with Leanne at Do Not Refreeze!) for Motel Rocks Clothing! Every now and again I will be creating Nail Art tutorials for manicures that are inspired by their prints and clothing ranges (WHICH ARE TO DIE FOR). Their clothes don't follow the trends - they set them. The prints they create become iconic and there is literally something for everyone in their ranges (can you tell that I am a bit in love with Motel Rocks?)

This is great news as it means even more tutorials for you guys! You also get 15% off clothing at Motel Rocks with my discount code TOPBLOG15 (see the banner --->)

The first tutorial is one I have been meaning to do for a while - how to get perfect stripey nails that look professional and neat! For more on how to achieve this manicure at home, click the link below :) It's easy and uses only tools that you have around the house!

Click here to see the full tutorial on Motel Rocks!

You can read a post I did previously on a Motel Rocks and Glossy Box event HERE :D

Have a great weekend, everyone xxx

Basketball and Nail Polish: 30 Day NBA Challenge Day 1 *LAKERS*

Hi Guys,

Jen over at "The Exotic Lacquer" HERE decided to do a 30 day NBA Challenge it's not nail art specific you just have to capture the essence of the team.  I thought I can handle this challenge so I'm jumping in with both feet. Lol!

                             I wish this list was bigger so I can see it

The rules to the challenge are simple 30 days 30 teams It doesn't have to be nail art but you can. Some days I will be trying some nail art and sometimes just doing a manicure with the team colors.

YOU MUST USE AT LEAST 2 OF THE TEAM COLORS

First up is  Los Angeles *Lakers*

I used OPI Purple With A Purpose from the 2006 Brights Collection 2 coats,  OPI Banana Bandanna 2009 Sunbelieveable Collection 4 coats. Used Konad Plate M52 stamped with OPI Out Of This World from 2001 OPI's Birthday Collection (black label) it's a cinnamon creme but wasn't thick enough to use to stamp with that's why the basketball's are light in color.

                   
                                               History                                

Source

From the George Mikan-led Minneapolis Lakers teams of the '40s and '50s to the "Showtime" era Magic Johnson teams of the late 1980s to Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's dynasty of the early 21st century.

*Other Bloggers taking the 30 Day Basketball Challenge* The Exotic Lacquer

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Until next time please have a great nail polish day. (✿◠‿◠)

You Dotty Girl!

Another lovers' affair, broadcast for my viewers to see. This is truly getting out of hand.

This time, I have a reason though. I'm going to enter one of my nail designs in Sarah's (Chalkboard Nails) nail art contest. She's encouraging her readers to participate in an all-dotting tool themed contest. The winners are chosen by Sarah and her panel of judges, so this isn't a plug for your votes. In fact, I think you all should enter! Entering your designs will inspire other designs for everyone to try out, so in a way, everyone wins a little. Plus, everyone knows how to use a dotting tool, homemade or store-bought. It's a great, fair way to allow nailers of all skill levels to enter and possibly win a $20 gift card to Llarowe.

Llarowe sells some of the coveted international polish lines like Glitter Gal and HITS to United States customers who can't get these polishes elsewhere. Good news...Llarowe ships just about everywhere else as well!

With that awesome prize and an additional two mystery prizes valued at $10 up for grabs, I had to enter.

I've done lots of dotting designs, so I had several to go on, but I wanted to enter something new. Hopefully I made the right choice with this design.

The base for this design is Skull and Glossbones (OPI). The various dots were done using my reliable dotting tools and Grape Pop (China Glaze), Planks A Lot (OPI), and White On (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear) (in order of darkest to lightest). I chose to go with a purple theme to match the dotting tools themselves. Dang those little guys are inspiring!

Claire's Holographic Glitter and Bundle Monster Stamping Art!

Hello lovelies, my blog has a new outift - how do you like the new layout and banner?! It's a work in progress so forgive any glitches you might come across!

I nipped in to Claire's Accessories the other day (as any self-respecting, 21 year old does on her lunch break...) and noticed a couple of polishes I hadn't seen before - the shop girl informed me that they were, in fact, new out and I had the last one of their (usually impossible to get hold of) lilac holographic glitter. Since I want anything 100x as much if I know I can't have it, I thought I better buy it to save myself later heartache. It did not disappoint, it is a gorgeous holographic lilac glitter and opaque in 3 coats:

please ignore the stub...

Ahhhhh rainbow!

As if that weren't interesting enough, I thought I'd stamp the cute heartey-liney image from Bundle Monster BM11 (imaginative adjectives don't come easy, late at night) using Konad Black Special Polish.

This looks great when it catches the sunlight and the stamping makes a glittery manicure a bit more fun and interesting! I added a coat of Seche Vite to finish and the glitter is totally smooth - not gritty at all. I'm not looking forward to the removal though, it will be the foil method, for sure. (I will do a tutorial for this!)

Thanks everyone! I have recently joined Pinterest so I can share all my favourite nail designs and inspiration on a virtual pinboard - if you're on Pinterest, it is really easy to pin anything you see on Emily's Nail Files - just sign up and get a "pin it" button on your toolbar! Alternatively, look for the Pinterest button on my pages :D

love!

a england - Ascalon

"Forged by magic and guided by our hero's sainted hand, the steely grey of his spire is alive with a swirling heart of lavender fire."

Today I'm showing you a england - Ascalon, another nail polish from The Legend collection. I think Ascalon is an incredibly cool nail polish, I already wore it twice in two weeks. Now that says something, believe me! Ascalon is a steel grey coloured polish with a good amount of prismatic particles. It also has a subtle duochrome effect; I mostly see a purple flash, but at certain angles there's a golden green colour visible. It's hard to photograph, but the green is definitely there! The formula was excellent, I used two coats. 

The Legend nail polishes are available now on the a england website (£9.00 for 13 ml).

Thanks for watching!

*The product(s) in this post was/were sent to me for reviewing purposes.

For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.

Indigo Lunar Eclipse

I love snow. But when it starts snowing at the moment I want to photograph my fresh new mani, I hate snow. I wish I had more pictures to show you, this looks so awesome! Recently I finally bought Barry M - Indigo, an insanely gorgeous blurple creme (the colour was hard to capture on camera, it looks much deeper and purplier irl). Indigo applied beautifully, two coats were enough for full opacity. I wanted to add something to it without losing too much of that beautiful colour so I lightly sponged the tips of my nails with Lunar Eclipse from Orly. This is a dreamy combination, I like it very much! Indigo is such a stunner, why haven't I bought it earlier? In my experience Barry M never disappoints!

Thanks for watching and enjoy your weekend!

Going In Circles

I'm happy it's the weekend!  I did several things to my nails.  First, I put on 3 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Eel Skin. Second, one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Glass Slipper.  I can see myself putting it on every creme I own.  And, third did a stamping with Chanel Vendetta using XL Plate B.  

Why does macro have to show every little flaw. Lol!  I promise it looks better irl

Glass Slipper killed my lemming for Illasmaqua Raindrops and CND Sugar Sparkle.  (Hugs bottle)

 Eel Skin a nice creme

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Until next time please have a great nail polish day. (✿◠‿◠)

Speciallità - Dionísio & Comparison

Hmm.. or could this be my favourite? ♥ Meet Dionísio, the purple prismatic polish from Speciallità. As you can see it's incredibly gorgeous, I love it! The formula was good. It is a bit on the sheer side, this is three coats (no top coat).

China Glaze - LOL, a england - Lady of the Lake, Teeez - Outta Control 01, Speciallità - Dionísio & Color Club - Wild at Heart

I made a comparison on a nail wheel with a couple of purple nail polishes with prismatic particles. Dionísio is the sheerest of these five, but the intense prismatic effect absolutely makes up for it! I can stare at these pretties all day... You can never have enough purple prismatics, can you? 

Dionísio is part of my giveaway prize, don't forget to enter! ^_^

Thanks for watching!

*The product(s) in this post was/were sent to me for reviewing purposes.

For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.

Purple Glam

Good Morning,

While in Kmart looking for Revlon Whimsical I spied a Jordana display.  Purple Glam caught my eye because it's such a beauftiful grape purple with confetti/bar glitter that sparkles.  I did pick of the last Whimsical from the Revlon display.  My camera is picking this up as a bloody looking purple if that makes since.  It's much softer.  Very easy to apply and only needed two coats.

The others from the display were just your basic colored creams.

Do you have any interesting Jordana's in your collection?

Are you on Pinterest? If  so, let me know so I can follow you :)

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Until next time please have a great nail polish day. (✿◠‿◠)

Clairie's Periwinkle

Good Morning,

Before taking off yesterday's polish (Icing Blue Heaven) I put on a coat of Clairie's Periwinkle.  It's a really pretty duochrome that flashes teal, purple and pink at different angles.  Duochromes are thin so they are best applied over a dark base color.  I wish I could have taken a better shot of it in the sun.

You can see the shifting colors on my middle finger

Do you love duochromes as much as I do?  Which ones are your favorite?

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Until next time please have a great nail polish day. (✿◠‿◠)

Ozotic Pro 503

Good Morning,

I love love oversea nail polishes.  I wish I could own everyone from the Ozotic Pro line.  Multichrome/Duochrome texture polishes are so amazing to me.  They show so many colors at different angles when you move your fingertips around. Today, I am wearing Ozotic Pro 503 it shifts from an emerald green to bronze, pink, purple and blue.  Only one coat over black. Too bad I couldn't capture all the colors.

 I can wear this one over and over again!

 Until next time please have a great nail polish day. (✿◠‿◠)